General Motors is currently working to create a cyborg. Kind of.
GM is working in conjunction with Swedish medical technology company Bioservo and NASA on a design for RoboGlove, a futuristic hand garment made to be worn as an assist to motor production workers.
Wired claims the glove works through “[p]ressure sensors and actuators [that] mimic nerves and muscles,” which makes the glove able to sense when something is being picked up. Wired states the glove is “gentle enough to handle eggs but firm enough to maintain a strong grip, so you aren’t wasting energy holding your hammer.”
According to GM, Bioservo is working on inventing a “new grasp assist device for industrial use that could increase human operator efficiency while reducing fatigue in hand muscles.”
Kurt Wiese, vice president of GM Global Manufacturing Engineering said, “RoboGlove can reduce the amount of force that a worker needs to exert when operating a tool for an extended time or with repetitive motions.”
GM is only the first U.S. company to test these gloves. Bioservo intends to partner with other companies in the future, producing RoboGlove models for a variety of uses where additional gripping strength is needed.